The Rules Of Attraction
by Chels-Chels18
Summary: The Dark Lord has been defeated and everyone is back at Hogwarts for their final year. Hermione is determined to make the best of thier final year but this peaceful vision is shattered when she finds herself being drawn to the Slytherin Prince, Draco Malfoy, the most cunning of them all. She's about to learn the rules of the game of forbidden love. Dramione. T for safety. HAITUS.
1. Chapter One

**DISCLAIMER - I OWE NOTHING, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. EVERYTHING BELONGS TO JK ROWLING AND HER CREATIVE IMAGINATION. **

AUTHOR'S NOTES - I HAVE BEEN OBSESSING ABOUT THIS FORBIDDEN PAIRING FOR A LONG WHILE NOW AND I HAVE DECIDED ITS TIME TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. THE DRAMIONE PAIRING IS SO WRONG BUT AT THE SAME TIME IT'S SO RIGHT. IT'S DEFINITELY A RIGHT KIND OF WRONG :) THIS IS MY VERY FIRST DRAMIONE FANFICTION AND I KNOW FULLY WELL THAT I WILL BE TOEING THE LINE OF CLICHÉ DRAMIONE PLOTS. I WILL HOWEVER TRY TO BE AS ORIGINAL AS POSSIBLE SO WE CAN ALL ENJOY IT. :) AS USUAL, I WOULD APPRECIATE IT IF YOU READ, VOTE AND REVIEW OR DO WHATEVER IT IS YOU DO AND LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU ALL THINK. I OFCOURSE EXCEPT CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM BUT STRICTLY NO FLAMES. IF YOU HAVE NOTHING NICE TO SAY, DON'T SAY ANTHING AT ALL :)

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**CHAPTER ONE**

"'Mione! Hermione!" Ron snapped his fingers in front of the witch's face to draw her away from her thoughts. Hermione continued to stare out of the window watching as the trees flew by as the Hogwarts Express sped past rolling hills, lakes, through tunnels, forests, and fog. Hermione's thoughts flew by behind her eyes like shadows, her lips slightly pursed as she absent-mindedly twirled the Head Girl badge in her hands.

"Bloody hell, Hermione!" Ron shook the dazed-out witch, His fiery red hair skimmed messily over the top of his blue eyes and fanned out behind his ears, giving him a boyish and innocent look he definitely did not make up for in personality.

After the kiss they shared in the Chamber of Secrets, they both decided what happened in the Chambers stays in there and they never really took it anywhere else. They couldn't say they didn't try but their new profound relationship sort of just fizzled out, losing it's spark and so they just carried on with their friendship and remained best friends.

"What do you want, Ronald? I'm trying to think" Hermione snapped at the red head as she came back to reality.

"McGonagall is asking for you to go to the Prefect's Cabin" Ron huffed, crossing his arms over his broad chest. Ginny giggled and beamed at Hermione before burying her nose back into the Daily Prophet.

"I wonder who is Head Boy?" Harry muttered as he ran his fingers through his unruly dark hair that was getting so long that it was sometimes hard to get a glimpse of his piercing emerald eyes.

"I'm surprised you're not Head Boy, Harry." Ron replied, soon forgetting about being in a huffy with Hermione.

"I don't think I want to be Head Boy, it's too much of a hassle. I just want a nice quiet year at Hogwarts" Harry sighed

"This is Hogwarts we're talking about mate, it'll never be quiet." Ron laughed and soon enough the rest followed.

It's been a couple of months since the climax of the Second Wizarding War occurred in the Great Hall of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and most of the former sixth years who's academic year had been disrupted by the dark months are being rounded up and made to go back to Hogwarts to finish their last year.

Hermione was happy that she was going back to Hogwarts to finish her N.E. unlike Ron who's not pleased about the fact that he's going to be in the same year as his younger sister, Ginny.

Every one of their fellow students came back to Hogwarts, however only a handful of Slytherins joined them. Most of the Slytherins has gone into hiding for most of them and their families have been involved with the Dark Lord, so naturally they choose to lay low for a while and not come back to Hogwarts.

Hermione drew in a long breath, held it in for a second and then let it hiss out slowly before she stoop up to her full height. She grabbed a small bag which held her robes and started to make her way out of their cabin. Ginny looked above The Daily Prophet and smiled at her brightly.

"I'll see you at the Castle guys. I'm going to go and find somewhere to change before making my way to the Prefects' Cabin." Hermione said with a smile and her best friends just nodded their heads in response, did not even look up from an intense game of Wizard's Chess.

Hermoine bit her lips in a frustrated way and tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear as she gave up trying to find a spare cabin or a vacant bathroom to change into her school robes. She briefly checked her watch, she concluded that she had a quarter of an hour to make her way to the Prefects' Cabin and change into her robes as she knew that no one is probably there just yet.

"_Alohomora_" Hermione whispered when she found that the door was locked. She knocked on the door but no one answered and when she pressed her ears against the door, she heard nothing. She concluded that no one was inside and it was just locked.

But how very wrong she was.

Hermione sighed, her eyes cast down as she stepped into the cabin.

"Granger!" She heard someone exclaim, she snapped her eyes upwards and she was startled to see Draco Malfoy. A scarcely clad Malfoy.

"Malfoy!" she squeaked as she felt the blood rush up to her face. She couldn't help let her eyes linger on him longer than she should. She swallowed thickly as her eyes shamelessly travelled up and down his body. Malfoy's body was lean and flawless. He was no longer as pale as he was, he somehow managed to acquire a slight tan to his once pale skin that gave him a healthy glow. His muscles were toned and chiselled but they didn't stick out arrogantly. She fought the urge to run her hands on his body and when this particular thought drifted into her mind, she was ashamed to admit it. How could she shamelessly ogle at him when all he's ever done is give her and everyone grief?

She panicked as Malfoy raised his brow up and without a second thought she turned on her heels and faced the wall to give him a chance to change into his robes for he was only wearing forest green boxers that rode dangerously low on his pelvis and white cotton socks.

"I knocked." Hermione shallowed, her cheeks burnt a deep shade of red.

"I didn't hear." Malfoy replied.

"What are you doing in here?" Hermione took a chance and glanced over her shoulders. Malfoy was just shrugging into his white shirt and buttoned it up lazily. There was something new about Malfoy that she couldn't quite put a finger on. His silvery blond hair was longer and more unruly than she ever saw, giving him a more boyish and charming look rather than his once arrogant, smug self. His once stone cold gray eyes held a warmer, more vibrant tone. He has changed over the summer.

"I could ask you the same thing." Malfoy shrugged as he pushed his green tie up.

"Head Girl." Hermione found herself saying with pride.

"Head Boy." A sly grin crept up on his face as she could feel her jaw drop. How on earth was he chosen as Head Boy? Has McGonagall gone mad? Draco Malfoy is a son of Lucius Malfoy, a well known Death Eater who is now serving his time in Azkaban for assisting the Dark Lord. Although when Hogwarts came face to face with the Dark Lord and his followers, Draco switched his allegiance and chose to fight against the Dark Lord and not with him. This angered the Dark Lord but not as much as it angered Lucius who attacked and shouted abuse at his own son spell after spell.

Maybe that's why McGonagall chose him as Head Boy. It was brave of him to stand up against the Dark Lord but it was a lot braver to stand up against his own father for once in his life. Draco Malfoy was no longer the boy who had no choice. Draco Malfoy picked his side.

"Look, I know this is not going to be the best year of our lives but I suggest we should at least try and get along without too much hassle so we can enjoy our last year at Hogwarts." Malfoy sighed deeply as he tucked his shirt into his trousers and button up his cuffs. Hermione briefly saw the Dark Mark etched on his left forearm as the snake moved its head, flicking its tongue out. Hermione knew it was something Draco Malfoy was ashamed about and the mark would remind him of his family's alliance with the Dark Lord. It was also one of the hardest things to remove without causing the bearer so much pain that it would feel like they are under the Cruciatus Curse.

"I suppose since we're also going to be sharing the Head Tower." Hermione nodded timidly.

"Good. I'll let you get change into your robes then." Malfoy nodded his head towards the small bag that she had in her hands and strode towards the door. His hands briefly brushed hers, sending an electrical spark down her spine that made her shiver.

'What is wrong with you, Hermione Jean Granger. This is Draco Malfoy you're dealing with, The Slytherin Prince, the most cunning of them all. He gave you grief for six full years! He calls you a Mudblood!' Her conscious screamed at her as Malfoy closed the door gently behind him.

* * *

"Welcome to another year at Hogwarts!" McGonagall exclaimed as she stepped up onto the podium to say a few words before sent everyone to bed. The first years had been already set at ease as they got themselves acquainted with the rest of their house over a large feast.

"I just wanted to say a few words to remind you that First Years should note that the forest is forbidden to all students. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well.

"I have also been asked by Mr. Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridor.

"I am also pleased to announce that our new Head Girl is Miss Hermione Granger from Gryffindor and our new Head Boy is Mr. Draco Malfoy from Slytherin.

"Lastly, First Years stick to your house prefects and Goodnight." McGonagall nodded her head as the first years followed their house prefects through the chattering crowd, out of the Great Hall and up the marble staircase.

"Malfoy is Head Boy!" Ron hissed as Hermione caught up with them.

"Oh shush Ronald! Leave him alone" Hermione found herself snapping at Ron. Ron looked at her with wide eyes before he glared at her suspiciously.

"'Mione! He's an arrogant prick! A Slytherin too. And you're going to be sharing the Head Tower with him on your own" Ron stated in a worried tone as he made up wild conclusions in his head about how Malfoy might influence her.

"It's going to be strictly business. Besides this is Draco Malfoy we're talking about. I'm not going to be chummy with him." Hermione smiled at her boys to reassure them, before she hoarded a bunch of first years on the right path up the moving staircases.

Soon enough, Ron and Harry were lost in the midst of the crowd and Hermione made his way towards the Head Tower where she's going to spend the rest of the year in.

Draco leant casually against the opposite wall of their new dorm room. Their shared dorm room is guarded by a large portrait of Dumbledore in gray robes with his trusty companion Fawkes perched on his shoulder.

"Ah Miss Granger! Lovely to see you again." Dumbledore beamed at her as he looked under his half moon spectacles as she approached.

"Hello professor." Hermione smiled

"Professor McGonagall gave me very strict instruction to let you know that you both should be on your best behavior. Any misbehavior from you will result in harsh punishment. Secondly you both should keep your new dormitory as clean as possible that you don't require the house elves clearing up after you every hour. Lastly you should not let a stream of people other than yourselves come in and out of the Head Tower unless necessary." Dumbledore beamed. Pleased with himself that he remembered everything McGonagall told him.

"Password." He asked when the new Heads nodded in agreement.

"Lemon Drops" Hermoine muttered and Dumbledore bid them Goodnight before he swung the door open and to let them into their new dormitory.

Hermione went up the cold stone stairwell before being hit by the warmth of the Head Tower with a punch.

The Common Room was a small cozy room with a grand fireplace that crackled and danced threw shadows onto the room. A large portrait of the Founders hung above the fireplace. Black leather sofa and two armchairs faced and surrounded the fire place with a cream wool rug in the middle. A collection of green with silver tassels and red with gold tassels cushions were placed the the sofa and armchairs with a matching tartan throw neatly folded in the middle of the sofa.

A large bookshelf covered one wall which overflowed with books and in front of it was a large desk with two chairs opposite which suggested that it could be used for collaborated learning.

On the other wall was a small kitchenette unit with wooden cupboards, granite countertop, a small oven, silver sink and tap, and a small island table with four wooden chairs. There was a wooden bowl in the middle of the table full of fruits.

A large mirror hung on the wall opposite the portrait of the founders and either side of it was an archway with a stairwell that led to a door. Above the left archway was the Slytherin coat of arms and to the right was the Gryffindor coat of arms.

"Do you need any help?" Malfoy's voice echoed through the common room above the crackling fire and snapping Hermione out of reverie.

"With what?" Hermione muttered.

"Your bags." Malfoy nodded his head at the large suitcase and three bags at the foot of Hermione's archway.

"If you don't mind." Hermione said timidly. When did Malfoy become so gallantly?

Malfoy hummed his reply and approached her bags. He picked up the two larger bags in one hand and the large suitcase on the other, but left the smallest bag for Hermione.

Hermione followed his suit and made her way to her new bedroom. Her bedroom was similar to the one she shared with the other girls at the Gryffindor dorms. It was a lot smaller but it was a lot cosier. A large wooden four poster bed with red and gold curtains with matching sheets and pillows was against the wall adjacent to the door. Opposite was a large bay window with green and silver cushions overlooked the forest and the black lake. There was a large bookshelf and a wooden desk next to the wardrobe and chest of draws. There was a small wooden door on the other side of the room which she presumed was her bathroom.

Draco dropped her bags in the middle of the wooden floors without a word and brushed past her.

"Thank you, Draco." Hermione muttered before she gasped at the fact that she called him by his first name. For the seven years that she had known him she had never called him by his first name.

"I-I mean Malfoy" She rushed to say, not knowing how he will react.

"Goodnight, Hermione." Half of a smile tugged at his lips before shutting the wooden door behind him and his soft footsteps on the stone floors soon became distant.

"Snap out of it Hermione!" Hermione snapped to herself, and softly slapped her cheeks with both hands. She felt a small whisper of a flutter in her stomach when her name softly came out of Malfoy's pale pink lips as if it belonged there.

Draco couldn't help but let the ghost of a smile that graced his face widen as he shut Granger's door behind him. The way his name sounded out of Granger's voice affect him in a way that a small fluttering in his stomach.

There was something about Granger that always caught his eyes. Maybe it was the way she stood up for what she believed in despite her inferior blood status. Or maybe the way she never let anything affect her, not even the grief he had given her all these years. There was definitely something about her he couldn't quite put a finger on. Then again it might be the fact that she was a part of the Golden Trio, much to his dismay. Or maybe even when she punched him in the face in their third year. What ever it was, she caught his eye.

He never really thought about her much but when she did cross his mind he found himself wondering about her for hours on end. It's strange really, he got this warm, fuzzy feeling at the bottom of his stomach which swirled in him and grew into his skin.

He tried to avoid thinking about her but he couldn't help it especially the way she screams burnt his ears the time his aunt tortured her in Malfoy Manor. He wanted to lash out when his aunt sunk her teeth in Granger's arm before carving the word 'Mudblood' onto her fair skin, drawing blood as his aunt did. Her screams still burnt his ears.

And when she accidentally walked in on him as he was changing made his heart skip a beat. It was the first time he had seen her since the battle. She has grown a few inches since then and her hair was no longer busy. Her hair was tamer and fell in loose ringlets framing her soft features. Her brown eyes were still as bright and reminded him of dark liquid chocolate. She no longer had bucked teeth and she lost her childlike roundness of her face making her cheekbones higher and giving her soft contours.

"How ironic. A Muggle born, wait until your pure blood obsessed father hears about this, Draco. He's going to make you wish you were never born." Malfoy muttered to himself, chuckling without it reaching his steel grey eyes.

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**A/N Good, bad, so-so? Tell me what you think about it? Shall I continue or abort mission?**


	2. Chapter Two

**DISCLAIMER - I OWE NOTHING, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. EVERYTHING BELONGS TO JK ROWLING AND HER CREATIVE IMAGINATION.**

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**Chapter Two **

"So how is it, sharing the Head Tower with the Slytherin Prince?" Ginny casually inquired as she lowered herself rather ungracefully on one of the black leather sofa in the head tower.

It had been a week since the new term started, the first years had finally settled down and were quietly getting confident roaming around the castle, and for the other older students they were falling back into the old routine as the teachers shoved a boatload of homework upon them. Ah, as if nothing ever changed.

"He keeps to himself, I keep to myself." Hermione replied rather stiffly. She made a clicking noise between her cheeks before she flipped over a page of her overly large textbook she liked to call light reading.

"The ferret hasn't done anything to you?" Ron paused, unable to sense that Hermione did not want to talk about the said Slytherin.

In fact, the blonde had not uttered a word to her since the night they arrived. As if that glimpse of kindness he showed that night was reined back and pushed into a cage with the key carelessly thrown away.

Hermione did not know why this bothered her, it wasn't as if she expected them to be best buddy, she just wanted to see the kinder side of Draco Malfoy, she finally knew was there, 'tis all. He hasn't even looked her way unlike her who often found herself sneaking glances at him and watched as he narrowed his grey eyes in concentration before absent-mindedly bite his lips as he keep his attention at what he was doing. He would then run his long thin fingers through his blonde hair, casually push his fringe away from his eyes and let a small grin tug a corner of his lips when he was finally satisfied at what he was doing. He would often blink slowly and begin to push his sleeves up before abruptly halting when he realises he still had his blasted dark mark then he would frown, the creases w-

'Stop it Granger!' Hermione thought to herself harshly.

"Honestly, Ronald. Of course he hasn't done anything, and if he did I'll hex him to kingdom come." Hermione huffed. Oh how she wished Draco would utter a word to her instead of giving her the cold shoulder. Wasn't it him who offered to be civil with each other?

"Where is he anyway?" Ron asked which made Harry grunt with disagreement.

"He's practicing at the Quidditch pitch. I wanted to practice today but he'd gone and book the pitch for the next week in preparation for their first game with Hufflepuff." Harry crossed his arms over his chest as he wondered how in Merlin's soggiest pants did Malfoy managed to book it before him.

"Does that mean he won't be back for a while?" A mischievous glint started to twinkle in Ron's eyes, which made everyone that moment never doubted that he was indeed the younger brother of the infamous Weasley Twins, prankster extraordinaire.

"Yes. What are you up to Ron?" Harry asked cautiously. Ron only responded by pulling Harry and Ginny out of the black sofa and began to drag them towards Draco's chamber.

"No, Ronald Weasley! Don't you dare!" Hermione pushed herself up to her full height and began to march her way towards her nosy friends who didn't seem to mind the idea to snoop around Draco Malfoy's lair.

"Come on 'Mione! Live a little!" Ron flashed a cheeky smile and ran up the stairway leading to Draco's room.

"Come back here this instant Ronald! How would you like it if Malfoy and his friends barged into your room and snoop through your things?" Hermione found herself sounding a lot like Mrs Weasley, maybe even putting the Weasley matriarch into shame.

"He hasn't got any friends and even if he did, I have nothing to hide so snoop away!" Ron retorted before he whispered a simple unlocking charm and let himself in.

"Yes, you do. You wouldn't want Malfoy finding Mister Puffles, now do you?" Ginny winked at Hermione before she too ascended up the stairs.

"Shut up Ginny!" Ron growled.

"Mister Puffles?" Harry echoed.

"Ronald's beloved stuffed lion. He never went without him. I think it was only when he went to Hogwarts was he apart from that old raggedy thing." Ginny informed Harry and Hermione who shared a grin together.

"Ginny!"

* * *

This was how Hermione found herself lingering around the threshold of Draco's room, whilst the others began to snoop around his room. Draco's room is similar to hers, just a change in colour and it looked a lot more cleaner than hers. He had a bigger wardrobe and chest of draws than her too.

Ginny made a beeline towards Draco's wardrobe and threw open the doors before she let out a low whistle. " I hate to admit it, but the ferret has style."

"Come on guys, that's enough. He's going to be here soon and he's going to get angry if he finds us here." Hermione had not moved from her station by the door and just simply crossed her arms over her chest and hoped that the glare she was gave them would make them understand that she's the one living with Draco and not them. So, if he caught them sticking their nose in his business she was bound to be the one facing his wrath. And she did not want to be that person.

She heard the rumours all right, rumours that she knew that she will become truth when he catches them. Rumour has it that Draco Malfoy can be daunting when angry. He is normally calm and collected and when angered he usually stays cold and composed but one know that they would rather prefer it if he flips out than have him act coldly towards you. He is also known to be good at revenge seeking that could break even the bravest of all. Hermione definitely doesn't want that directed to her.

"Oh, what's this?" Ron pulled out a thick looking leather bound book with a braided cord wrapped around it binding the book tight.

"A journal, maybe?" Ginny snatched it off Ron's clutches and began to investigate the book. She soon found out that the braided cords had been enchanted to never open apart for Draco. But that didn't stop Ginny, with a wave and a flick of her wand she muttered a strong unlocking charm she picked up during the war. The leather cords untied themselves and the book was open to prying eyes. Harry and Ron flashed a proud smile at Ginny before they looed over her shoulder and down at the book.

"Can't believe Malfoy keeps a journal…" Ron snorted only to receive a smack form Hermione who couldn't resist the temptation to see the said journal. A little peek into his personal thoughts would harm would it? If Draco was given the chance to read through her journal, Hermione knew he wouldn't let the opportunity slide, wouldn't he?

"'_To my Darling Draco, Happy 11__th__ Birthday. I heard you have a talent for art but your father forbade you to pursue such a trivial passion. Never fear my child, for your father will never find this book. He will neither see it, feel it, touch it or even smell it even if it is right underneath his nose. Do with this book as you wish, and I hope it will fulfil this passion of yours for years to come. The flame of passion is so difficult to light, yet so easily extinguish. Do not be the child who've had passion beaten out of them Draco, remember that. Love, Grandmamma.' _" Ginny read the elegant scrawl on the first page before she agreed with Harry when he stated what kind of man stops their child from creating art.

Ginny tentatively flipped a page open and was surprised at what she saw. Hell, they all were. Draco's book held such array of sketches and paintings of all sorts of things. The first page was graced by a delicately painted of his mother with a shy smile and a twinkle in her eyes. She looked as if she was in a garden of sort with Draco capturing the stolen scene with such precision that it looked almost like a photograph. Sketches of buildings soon followed and a line up of scenes that were familiar to them as they were the scenes of meadows, rolling hills and lochs that they pass whilst aboard the Hogwarts Express. Even a couple of rough sketches of the Great Hall and other parts of the castle as they years gone by. Hell, even a stolen scene from the Yule Ball had made it to the sketchbook.

However what was peculiar was the dozens of unfinished sketches of what looked like a girl that were dotted around in the sketchbook. All the other sketches and paintings were finished but not of the girl. They presumed it was a girl for it had curly, almost bushy hair and often wore a skirt. She looked like she studied at Hogwarts for she first appeared in the Great Hall sat on the stool with the Sorting hat low on her head and hiding her eyes. It was most strange for the girl always had no eyes, they were either hidden under her fringe or blocked from view somehow or rather. Draco's sketches seemed to follow in chronological order from his point of view and they certainly followed the girl through the years. All of which she had no eyes to give away her identity and Draco seemed to go to great lengths to make sure that she remains a mystery to everyone. Even her school robes gave no indication to what house she belongs or her own clothes to whom she may be.

Whoever this girl is, Draco has some kind of fascination for her.

"That's so strange." Ginny commented as she flipped over the last drawing which happened to be the view from his window in the Head Tower that overlooked the Forbidden forest and the black lake.

As soon as the words left the redhead they all heard the click of the door closing, followed by footsteps that came towards them and the whistling of a tune that suspiciously sounded like 'Weasley Is Our King'.

With a flurry of panic, Ron snatched the book away from Ginny and threw it on the bed and Harry pulled out his invisibility cloak that had been reduced in size to fit in his pocket. He grabbed hold of everyone and muttered an enlargement charm in order for everyone to fit in. Fortunately they were all huddled around the furthest corner of the room away from the door and safely tucked under the cloak when Draco came into the room.

"What the hell?" Draco's casual whistling came to an abrupt halt when he spotted his leather sketchbook on the bed. Slowly he picked it up and his eyes narrowed in suspicion. Hermione and the others could see the cogs turning in his head and coming up with a conclusion as to how the book ended up on the bed and not in the bottom drawer of his desk underneath all his old textbooks. Draco let out a deep sigh, pointed his wand at the door to lock it before he approached his desk and dropped the leather book in its respected place.

Under the invisibility cloak Hermione, Ginny and Harry all gave Ron a pointed look that silently said 'Why did you do that for?' and Ron gave a sheepish shrug with a matching smile.

As creepy as it sounded, the Gryffindors continued to watch Draco dwadled around his room as he leaned his broom on the door and pointed his wand at his broomstick maintenance kit to start working on his broom. He then proceeded to strip off his Quidditch robes, balled them up and threw them into the laundry basket. Clad in his silver boxers that once again rode dangerously low on his hips, he made his way into the bathroom.

The Gryffindors sighed with relief as they heard the water running and they gave it a few seconds just to be sure before they surfaced up from the cloak and Hermione gave them a very angry glare with a hint of 'I told you so!'. They all shook their head and began to silently make their way out of Draco's room undetected. They never even got half way across the room when they heard the front door click open again and this time along with a chain of English and Italian words together.

"Draco Lucius Malfoy! Are you in here? Dove sei, mio buon amico? Ho dormito qui stasera. Mi hanno buttato fuori di dormitori." ("Where are you, my good friend? I am sleeping here tonight. I have been thrown out of the dormitori")

For the second time in ten minutes, Harry pulled them all together and threw the cloak over their heads just as Blaise Zabini barged into the room with his bag over his shoulder and wand in hand.

"Oh, merda!" He cursed in Italian when he knocked over Draco's broom and spilling all the maintenance kit's content all over the floor.

"Ah Blaise, I thought I heard your girlish scream in here." Draco stated as he came out of the bathroom still all wet and with a towel wrapped around his waist and a small towel in his hand to dry his hair with.

"I'm sleeping here tonight." Blaise picked up the fallen broom and stood it up against the wall before jumping onto Draco's bed like he owned the place.

"So I heard as you came barging in here. Why did you get thrown out of the dungeons? What have you done this time?" Draco sighed as he flashed an irate glance at Blaise before he rummaged through his wardrobe.

"Do you remember the blonde witch I was chasing after for quite some time now?" A grin developed across Blaise's face and Draco merely hummed his reply as he pulled a grey cotton hoodie over his head and a black cotton sweatpants up to his hips. He pointed his wand at his hair and dried his hair with the hot air blowing out of it.

"Well I broke it off with her."

"Zabini, you're such a coward. Is that all?" Draco shook his head and lowered himself on the bay window.

"You know the drill, Malfoy, after all you were the one who established it. I got what I wanted so I no longer needed her." Blaise chuckled at the mere memory of what just happened.

"Did she threaten to hex your balls if you ever show your ugly face again?"

"No, not exactly. Did you know she had a sister? A twin sister?"

"Yes. They look nothing alike."

"I will tell you now, they are very much alike in more ways than one." Blaise's grin was fully blown by this stage into a smug smirk.

"Merlin, you didn't…" Draco himself couldn't help but grin at the mere thought of what he knew just happened.

"I went there." Blaise laughed and Draco couldn't help but chuckle along.

"One day Zabini, you will meet your match and she will tie you down whether you like it or not."

"I am not going to be tied down." Blaise frowned at the aspect of being tied down to one girl and one girl only. Oh the horror!

"You will, just mark my words." Draco replied and looked out the window to watch the dying sun make way for the moon.

"But for now, lock in your daughters for no one can resist the Zabini charms. I'm an Italian after all, everyone loves an Italian. Even the Muggles." Blaise gave out a cheeky laugh and winked at Draco who just shook his head.

"Anyway how is it living with Granger?" Blaise cleared his throat and raised an eyebrow at Draco.

"She keeps to herself, I keep to myself." Draco ran his fingers through his hair and leaned backwards against the wall and brought his knees forward in order to rest his arms on them.

"Boring!" Blaised responded in a singsong voice.

"What do you want me to say, Blaise? This is Granger we're talking about, we both would not even touch each other with a barging pole. She's a Muggle-born and I'm a pureblood, enough said." Draco took in a long breath before letting it out hiss slowly.

"Draco, I thought you were over this stupid pure blood mania." Blaise took one look at Draco and he knew exactly what was running in his friend's blond mind.

"I am. You know I am. It's just… It's just complicated all right."

"I know." Blaise sighed and Draco hummed his reply.

"You know what'll cheer you up? A good night out where witches are easy and a tub full of firewhiskey." Blaise offered

"Maybe another day." Draco leaned his head on the window pane and momentarily closed his eyes, his breath fogging up the glass window.

"Ah there is a girl involved in all this misery you're emitting, isn't it?" Blaise knew exactly who the girl is.

"I don't know what you are talking about, mate" Draco narrowed his eyes as he dismissed the idea of a girl being the root of his problems.

"Yes you do. You have been fascinated by her since you laid your beady eyes on her all those years ago in our first year. Don't deny it Draco, she may have only started to play on your mind since third year but you know from the first day she was always in the back of your head. Damn your stupid Malfoy tradition to hate mudbloods, half-bloods, blood traitors and anyone a drop short of blood purity. Purebloods are dying out Draco, you of all people should know that." Blaise pulled himself up to a sitting position and watched as Draco digested all the things he said.

"It's not her blood status I'm worried about." Draco replied so quietly that it sounded almost like a whisper.

"Then what?"

"Me. Look at me, Zabini, I'm a damn Malfoy. Lucius has burnt our name down to ashes and no reasonable magic folk will go anywhere us since my deranged father has supported that mad man and his bloody snake." Draco tightened his fists at the mention of his father and his beliefs that led to the Malfoy name spiralling out of the respected magical community's hierarchy.

"Do you love her?" Blaise asked, confident that even if his friend for nearly 18 years denies it, he knew the truth.

Just like Blaise guessed the blond did not say anything, he just looked out of the window and the muscle on his jaw twitched indicating that he was having an internal battle with himself.

"Yes, I do. More than she'll ever know." After a few minutes of stillness, Draco finally answered.

"She's the forgiving type you know. She will take what you have become and not what you have been." Blaise smiled sincerely at Draco.

"Screw the Malfoy name."

"Oh how your ancestors will be turning in their grave right about now knowing that the great Draco Malfoy has fallen." Blaise laughed

"They'll be clawing their way out by now. Oh how I am going to enjoy the look on their faces when I bring her home." Draco laughed along with Blaise who's laughter had gotten louder and more contagious than ever.

"The irony."

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A/N Sorry it has been so long since I last updated :) Read and Review


	3. Chapter Three

**DISCLAIMER - I OWE NOTHING, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. EVERYTHING BELONGS TO JK ROWLING AND HER CREATIVE IMAGINATION.**

**A/N Just a short and sweet chapter. Full of Dramione fluff coming your way.**

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**Chapter Three**

That night Hermione laid wide awake in her bed, unable to fall asleep at all. She tossed and turned to try and get into a comfortable position but alas she could not fall asleep. She has even finished all her homework that was set for the weekend but try as she might sleep hadn't come her way.

She turned to her side to face the window and watched as the moonlight streamed into the room, cutting it in half and danced motes danced gracefully in the wall of moonlight that shone into her room.

She had let her mind wondered about what Ron would call useless information that she will never need in day to day basis, and in the midst of her pondering, her thoughts landed on the blond next door to her.

She couldn't help but let a small smile tugged at the corners of her lips when she thought back to what happened that afternoon. Draco and Blaise carried swiftly diverted their topic about Draco's mystery girl to more trivial matters such as the next Quidditch game, A potion essay that Blaise was desperate to copy off from Draco and even who's currently going out with who.

The two Slytherins carried on with their wishy-washy conversation and only stopped when dinner was about to be served in the Great Hall. Draco finally gave up his potions essay to Blaise who happily took it off the blond's hands and even threatened to kiss him, but the latter told him if he dared he will personally hex him and tell the girl whom Blaise was hiding from where to find him.

As soon as the two friends left Draco's room, Harry and Ron had let out a sigh of relief and exclaimed "Finally! I thought they would never leave!"

"See, I told you not to go snooping around, you're so lucky he didn't catch us!" Hermione retorted as she stood up from the cold stone floor where she and the others sat crossed legged half way through the couple of hours of forced eavesdropping when they finally realised that they had no way out until the two snakes personally left the room.

"That wasn't an entire waste of time. Now we know that Malfoy is pining for someone. Why, I never thought to see the day he would be capable of love." Ginny contributed in as she stood up and stretched her aching limbs.

"I wonder who the unlucky girl is?" Ron snorted

"Could be anyone." Harry replied and at that moment Hermione felt a tug at her heart. Yes, who ever this girl was, she could be anyone. But whoever she was, she must be beautiful. Beautiful that she was able to catch his eyes for so long.

"Yes, and from what Zabini said I reckon she's a half blood. There's nothing worse in the eyes of death eaters, other than Muggles themselves of course, than the mixture of Muggle and magical blood. To them it's an abomination and should not be encouraged. Poppycock of course, there is no great witch or wizard alive today that is not a half blood or less." Ginny grimaced at the pureblood ideology.

Hermione fell silent at that moment in time. Whoever the girl is, it seemed like Draco cared for her deeply even though he would never show it. How could he if what Zabini said was true about the Malfoy tradition of keeping the bloodline pure as possible.

"She must be the girl in his book. Slightly creepy I think." Ron concluded as they climbed down the stairs into the common room.

"I think it's romantic and sweet, not something I'd associate with Malfoy of course, but still it shows that he pays close attention to her." Ginny smacked Ron on the shoulder and flopped herself back to the armchair she sat on.

Hermione let out a sigh and bolted upright from her bed, finally had enough of not being able to go to sleep. She shuffled out of her warm bed and shrugged on her dressing gown and slippers before she made her way down to the common room to pass the time until she could fall asleep.

Good thing it was Friday night and she didn't have to wake up early the next morning.

"Can't sleep Granger?" Hermione heard the familiar drawling voice that came from one of the armchairs beside the fire.

She glanced towards the direction of the voice and sure enough, Draco was sat with the leather sketchbook in one hand, a quill in the other and the tartan quilt draped over his legs. Balanced on the arm of his chair was a mug full of steaming hot herbal tea.

"No, I must have had too much coffee this afternoon." Hermione replied and took the armchair opposite him. She watched as Draco hummed his reply and closed his leather sketchbook shut before he put to one side with the quill tucked inside the book itself. He wrapped his long thin fingers around the mug and took a small sip from it.

"How about you, why are you down here?" Hermione decided it was a good idea to fill the silence that hung over them before it got far too awkward.

"Blaise's snoring was keeping me awake. I came down to pass the time by reading." Draco replied before he took another sip.

"Anything interesting?" Hermione nodded her head at the sketchbook, but she knew fully well that it was not a book that could be read.

"Not particularly. It's just about… art." a small smile crept up to his face.

"Hmm. Why is Zabini in your room?" Hermione feigned innocence about the fact that she knew Zabini is in Draco's room.

"Blaise got himself thrown out of the dungeons for the night. Something to do with a witch he's been chasing after and a fling with her twin sister." Draco chuckled slightly.

"You and Zabini seemed to go way back."

"We've known each other for nearly 18 years now. Lady Zabini was a friend of my mother's when Beauxbatons Academy came to Hogwarts for the Tri-Wizard Tournament. They kept in touch and when Blaise and I were born, we became playmates as such. He would come over to the Manor every weekend and spend the summer with us. There was one time, I think we were around 9 or 10, where he spent a year with us."

"A year?"

"Yes, pretty much. He never went back to Italy. He was only suppose to stay for the summer but he stayed for the year. His mother wasn't really worried for he knew where her son was. Lady Zabini worked for the Italian Ministry of Magic in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and she's one of the leading prosecutors. She's always ever so busy and so Blaise use to either spend his time with us or in their villa in Venice with the house elves and his private tutors." Draco informed, his eyes grew misty from recalling his childhood.

"Hmm."

"Would you like some tea?"

"Yes, why not."

"It's just herbal tea with a drop of sleeping draught. It should help you sleep." Draco pointed and flicked his wand at the kitchenette without even looking at it. Hermione watched as the kettle poured hot water into a mug and a small vial of silvery-purple liquid appeared out of nowhere and dropped precisely three small drops into the mug before it came flying through the air and it landed on the arm of the chair.

"Thank you." Hermione whispered as she wrapped her hands around the mug and took a sip. Just like Draco said it was herbal tea but it tasted nothing like she'd ever tasted before. It was fruity with a hint lavender in it. She couldn't help but groan inwardly as the tea warmed her insides up.

"That particular sleeping draught has been in my family for more than ten centuries. It contains standard ingredient, lavender, valerian, chamomile, honey and a drop of phoenix tears. It helps you fall asleep quicker and it's healing properties work wonders." Draco informed her when she asked about the sleeping draught that slowly made her feel warm and almost calm enough to be able to fall asleep. She started to feel slight woozy and even yawned as soon as it hit her system.

"She must be a lucky girl." Hermione couldn't help but say out loud when she noticed Draco staring at the fire longingly that reminded her of the expression he wore when they were eavesdropping on the Slytherins that afternoon.

"Who's lucky?" Draco snapped out of his reverie and narrowed his eyes at her slightly. Hermione could have slapped herself there and then for letting such a thing slip out of her mouth.

"Err this girl you're pinning for." Hermione gulped thickly.

"I'm not pining for someone." Draco denied coldly.

"Please. You might be able to remain stoic at most times, but Malfoy your eyes betray you." Hermione dared to look up and met his grey eyes that stared intensely at hers.

It was true, Draco's eyes always betrayed him. It may have been easy for him to shut down his compassion, close his mind and disassociate himself from his emotions but his silvery grey eyes always gave him away. They would light up when he was amused, they would glitter when he focused on something, a potion or an essay, or even when he is searching for something, they would darken to a smoky molten grey almost black when angry and would turn into a stormy grey when he is determined for something, sad or even jealous. Overall they betrayed him and his soul and there was nothing he could do about it.

"To be honest, I think I am the lucky one." Draco replied in a small whisper.

"I'm sure she would accept you as you are and not who you have been." Hermione echoed his whispered for she knew that she would forgive him if he ever apologise. Hell, she knew she already did as soon as he switched his allegiance to their side during the great battle.

"Funny, that's exactly what Blaise said."

"Hmm." Hermione found herself unable to keep her eyes from closing and soon enough she drifted off to a peaceful sleep beside the fire whilst Draco stared at her softly.

His eyes softened to a light grey with a hue of blue before he stood up and approached her sleeping form. Her breathing slowed down to a deep rising and falling of her chest and Draco couldn't help but brushed her cheeks with his fingertips.

"I'm sorry Granger, for all the things I've done over the years. I was young and stupid with bigoted ideas. I didn't mean to hurt you, forgive me." He muttered under his breath before he draped the tartan quilt over her gently without waking her up and lightly pressed a kiss to her cheeks.

Draco returned to his chair and reached out for his sketch book and turned to a fresh page and started to make rough strokes to capture this particular stolen moment with a smile that graced his lips and for once touched his eyes.

* * *

Blaise Zabini fought the urge to open his eyes as he desperately tried to cling to the last of the night's promise of sleep. His mind fuzzy and unfocused with sleep, and the last remnants of a dream he was not fully aware of before until now was being chased away by the realisation that it was already morning.

He didn't know how long that pesky ray of sunlight had been peeking through the small gap in the curtains before it shone strategically onto his face; nor did he know how long it took for him to become aware of it. What he did know is that he was not prepared to wake up just yet.

He fought to ignore the bright morning sunbeam, but the moment of going back to sleep had passed. He soon became aware that he lost the fight and gave a yawn as a sign of defeat. With a mental sigh he allowed his sleepy mind to focus and one of his eyes to cautiously open.

He looked around the room, the sunlight cuts the room in half and dust motes danced gracefully in the wall of light that peeked through the windows and noted that Draco was nowhere to be seen. The night before, Draco transfigured his chair into a bed that Blaise could sleep in.

Blaise let out another yawn before he shuffled out of his transfigured bed and made his way downstairs, for he concluded that Draco must either be done in the common room or he was in one of his weird moods and went out for a morning fly.

When he reached downstairs. He couldn't help but let out a smile. His said friend as asleep in the armchair with his sketchbook on his lap and opposite him was none other than Hermione Granger herself. Blaise approached his friend quietly and carefully took away the leather sketchbook but not let the opportunity slide to sneak a peak into the blond's sketchbook.

"You've outdone yourself this time, mate." Blaise muttered as his eyes lingered on the current page which Draco had drawn a sleeping Hermione in a delicate manner despite the rough strokes of his quill. Draco always had a talent for drawing and he could capture the image with such precision that it looked like one of those none moving Muggle photographs.

"Despite what you think, you deserve her."

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**A/N Read and review please xx**


	4. Chapter Four

**DISCLAIMER - I OWE NOTHING, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. EVERYTHING BELONGS TO JK ROWLING AND HER CREATIVE IMAGINATION.**

**A/N Just another short and sweet chapter. Dramione fluff ahead! Onwards!**

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**Chapter Four**

Draco woke up in high alert as soon as he heard the front door clicked faintly. He had to hand it over to his light sleepiness and the fact that ever since a mad man and his giant snake resided in his ancient, cold and eerily beautiful Manor, he developed a rather uncanny ability to wake up on high alert at the slightest sound.

With a sigh of relief and the realisation that it was merely Blaise who walked out the Head Tower and not the mad man that plagued his dreams, he relaxed back down into his armchair and once again tried to go back to sleep. But, alas it was not meant to be. The soft yet deep breathing that came from the armchair opposite him kept sleep from taking over again. He briefly glanced at the grandfather clock in the corner that proudly showed it was nearly 11 o'clock, since he decided it was a weekend, he needed more sleep.

He opened one of his silver eyes and looked at the sleeping brunette in front of him before he let out another deep sigh. This time it was filled with longing yet knowing that he had a long way to go yet before he could capture the heart of the brightest witch of their age . The said witch looked contentedly in her sleep, with a soft angelic expression painted on her face and a small smile that once and a while tugged at the corner of her rosy lips.

Ah, her lips.

Her full and rosy lips he'd been dying to feel against his own. To touch. To taste.

How often he thought about what she would taste like. Something sweet maybe like apples or strawberries, or maybe something mouth watering like vanilla or -

"Hmm… G'morning Malfoy." A sleepy voice whispered that subsequently broke the blond's train of thoughts. Damn, even her morning voice he found so attractive.

"Morning sleepyhead." Draco smiled slightly before he stood up to his full height of 6 feet and 4 inches and tried to get rid of the creaks in his neck then let out a satisfied sigh of relief when he finally stretched his stiff muscles.

"Doing anything interesting for today?" Hermione soon followed suit and stretched her stiff muscles before she made her way to the small kitchenette. He reached out for the one of the cupboards above and briefly thought of fresh milk before she opened in and sure enough there was a glass bottle of fresh milk straight from the kitchens. She poured herself and Draco one before she admitted to herself that she loved that particular cupboard.

It was enchanted to make anything that the residents of the Head Tower want from the kitchens. All they had to do is think about what they want whilst touching the handle and when opened, voila!, whatever they wanted was in front of them.

"Nothing. The Hufflepuffs booked the pitch today." Draco replied as he too drained down the glass of milk.

"Ah, the first big game with Hufflepuff next weekend." Hermione said to no one in particular and Draco only hummed his reply. Before she could stop herself she let out a thought that was not meant to be said out loud.

"It's a lovely day for a picnic. I haven't had one for years now."

Dammit! That wasn't suppose to come out. She concluded that it only came because she glanced towards Draco's chamber and saw the bright sunlight that streamed in, indicating that it was a lovely sunny day that was neither too hot or too cold. A lovely early autumn day.

"Huh, so it is. Know what Granger, I haven't had one in years too. Let's have a picnic, I know just the place." Draco, who felt slight spontaneous, stated without waiting for a reply as he made his way to his chamber.

* * *

By the time Draco and Hermione made it out of the Head Tower, with a basket of food - out from the enchanted cupboard, of course - that had been reduced in size to fit in one's pocket, it was past lunch time and both were starved for a nice picnic.

'_You're going on a date with Malfoy, Granger' _A small voice in the back of Hermione's head laughed manically.

'_No, I'm not! It's just a friendly lunch!' _Hermione retorted. She tried with her might to convince herself that she is not going on a date with Draco freaking Malfoy. It was just lunch without someone who she was being civil with.

'_Yeah, Yeah. Is that why you dressed up nicely today. More than usual' _

That fact she could not deny. She did in fact try to dress nicely. Of course she was only limited to what her wardrobe provided for her, but none the less she tried her best. She wore a simple cream knitted jumper with black skinny jeans and some ballet flats. She even tried to tame her curls into a more wavy look than at her normal day to day frizz.

"We're nearly there, Granger." Draco said when he noticed Hermione stopped for a moment and fiddled with the hem of her jumper. Draco looked over his shoulder but did not halt, instead he carried on walking with his hands stuffed into his trouser pockets.

"Where are you taking me, Malfoy?" Hermione inquired when she finally snapped out from her internal battle with herself and caught up with the Slytherin.

"Sort of a meadow that I discovered in third year. I use it as a place to think every now and then." Draco replied. They walked beside the outer layer of the Forbidden forest, past Hagrid's Hut and made their way towards the black lake. They hiked up a relatively high slope where ever so often the bushes caught Hermione's jeans.

"You better not be taking me on a wild goose chase, Malfoy." Hermione couldn't help but huff when Draco showed no sign of slowing down or any indication that they are near to where they are supposedly going.

"Would I do such a thing, Granger?" the left side of Draco's lips tugged upwards.

"I wouldn't put it past you, Malfoy. You could be taking me to a place where you can safely dump my body and no one will ever know. Just remember, I can cast pretty strong hexes." Hermione reminded him in jest.

"Ah, so I have experienced many times." The right side, this time, tugged upwards to a full blown smirk. The infamous Malfoy smirk.

"Are we nearly there yet?"

"Look around, Granger." Draco stated as he stopped in his tracks and pushed aside an overgrown tree branch that hanged low to the ground. Draco stepped aside and let Hermione through.

Hermione couldn't help but gasp at the sight of the atmosphere was of calmness and peace, and the beauty was quietly stunning. The soft green grass gently swayed in the slight breeze and there were vast amounts of wildflowers dotted around the place from deep scarlet poppies to foxgloves and bell flowers.

"H-how did you find this place?" Hermione asked softly as Draco lead them to large oak tree in the middle of the meadow and began to wave his wand around to enlarge the basket of food and lay the blankets out.

" I sort of stumbled into it when I was running away from a bunch of girls." Draco shuddered at the thought of a bunch girls that chased him all over the Castle just to make sure that he was alright ever since that bloody chicken at attacked him in the half-gaint oaf's lesson.

"Why were they chasing after you, may I ask?" Hermione laughed her tinkling laugh and lowered herself on the blanket.

"Ever since that Hippogriff attacked me, they placed it upon themselves to play healers." Draco joined her on the ground and leant against the tree.

"Served you right."

"I gotta admit, I enjoyed their attention at the beginning but after a week they got in my nerves." Draco smirked at the memory of girls gushing over his injury but it soon got annoying when they wouldn't leave him alone. Hell, Pansy got more clingy that normal.

"I bet you did." Hermione muttered

"What did you say, Granger?"

"I just said I bet you did oh great Casonova of the Slytherin House." Hermione smirked, when Draco frown for he never heard of the word.

"Casanova? What is that?"

"An Italian adventurer and author in the 18th century. He's also famous for his complicated and elaborate affairs with women that his name is now a synonym for the word 'womaniser'. I heard the rumours Malfoy." Hermione replied bravely and Draco merely smirked.

"Did you now? What rumours exactly?"

"Please Malfoy, I wouldn't put it pass you that the rumours are true."

"What, rumours like I go through girls faster than girls go through clothes those kind of rumours? Granger, I'm sure you know better that the trouble with rumours is that you tend to find out things about yourself that even you didn't know about. Rumours are just rumours." Draco smiled thinly and Hermione felt slightly guilty.

Draco knew the rumours that swirled within his names. But that's exactly what they were, just rumours. sure he had his fair share of girls but its not as excessive as the list of names that was tied to Blaise's name.

"Besides, if anyone is a womanising wreck it's Blaise. Once he makes you his next target then you have no escape." Draco laughed at Hermione's expression.

"Huh, I feel rather stupid now." Hermione smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of her neck.

"I had my share of girls, don't get me wrong. But I will tell you now, I've only been with three girls Blaise's cousin, a Beauxbatons girl and a pureblood my mother forced upon me." Draco said truthfully with the very intention of clearing his name infront of Hermione.

"And how about Pansy?"

"Merlin no! I don't know who spread that rumour but Pans and I are just friends. I've known her as long as I have known Blaise, she's like my sister. I know purebloods partice marriage with cousins and the likes but I will not shag a girl I see as my sister. Sure I took her to the Yule Ball but that was because it was convient for us." Draco shuddered for the second time in ten minutes when the image of Pansy and him going anywhere near a physical relationship.

"Oh. I just thought..." Hermione trailed off sheepishy.

"Don't worry about it Granger. Pansy was a bit clingy but I asure you I have not touched Pans in anyway shape form." Draco laughed geniunely. A comfortable silence developed over them as they ate their lunch of asorted sandwiches, salads, fruits and deserts.

"Malfoy, tell me something about yourself." Hermione found herself curious about Draco's past before he came to Hogwarts.

"What do you want to know?"

"Anything."

"Let see... You know about Blaise and Pansy already. Just like many wizards I was educated at home before I came to Hogwarts and my father hired private tutors for me to teach me literacy, numeracy, history, herbology, astronomy, quidditch and potions. Being a pureblood I was expected to learn Latin, French, how to play the piano and many other things. After I got my wand Father started taught me how to duel, charms and transfiguration. Since the Manor had all sorts of wards and protective spell the Ministry couldn't pick up underaged magic. Being friends with Blaise meant that I oftened spent my every other weekend in Italy and soon I began learning Italian." Draco replied as he tried to recall his childhood.

"How about you Granger, what was your life like before Hogwarts?" Draco laughed when he saw Hermione's jaw drop slightly.

"Errr." She cleared her throat before she coninued. "My parents are dentists. They are muggle healers for teeth pretty much. But before i went to Hogwarts i went to school where i learnt literacy, numeracy, history, music, art and science which is similar to potions, and herbology. I'm afraid I had a boring life before hogwarts."

"I did too much." Draco replied and Hermione smiled at him.

they carried on with their conversation about anything and everything. Hermione found herself having an intellectual conversation and she enjoyed his sharp wit when they were not directed to her. During their idle conversation, Draco being daring he laid his head on Hermione's lap and closed his eyes as they talked. Hermione couldn't help but run her fingers through his blond hair that was surprisingly soft and silky. When the talking came to a natural stop and the comfortable silence draped over them Draco was lulled to sleep by Hermione's fingers running repeatedly through his hair.

Hermione on the other hand, watched as Draco fell into a light sleep and watched as his chest rose and fell steadily. She found that she couldn't stop petting his hair as she took on every single detail of his handsome face. His high cheekbones, strong jaw, and his face has filled out slightly which made his face not as pointy anymore but his features were still straight, tall and angular. She also noted how Draco had long blonde lashes that brushed his cheeks and they were so blond it was almost hard to see them.

Hermione couldn't resist the sudden urge to bend her head down and placed a soft chaste kiss on his cheek.

But little did she know Draco had just woken up at that moment time. it took all of his might not to open his eyes or even give a hint of a smile that will reveal that he was awake.

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A/N Read and Review!

P.S I know Pansy was supposedly Draco's clingy girlfriend but for the purpose of this story, Pansy is nothing but his childhood friend. They were never in a relationship and never will be!


	5. Chapter Five

**DISCLAIMER - I OWE NOTHING, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. EVERYTHING BELONGS TO JK ROWLING AND HER CREATIVE IMAGINATION.**

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**Chapter Five**

"Hermione! Where have you been?!" Ron exclaimed, for once without his mouth full of food, as soon as Hermione sat down on the Gryffindor table. Harry, Ginny, and the other Gryffindors in their year looked at Hermione expectantly as they spent all afternoon looking for the missing brunette.

It first came to Harry and Ron's attention that Hermione was no where to be seen just after lunch. They thought nothing of it until they went to the Head Tower where Dumbledore informed them that Miss Granger was not in for she left an hour before they arrived. Next, they went to the library, and this time they were sure they would find her with her nose in a thick book she often liked to call light reading. When she was not there, Harry and Ron began to worry and pretty much sent the whole Gryffindor house looking for the Head girl.

"I-err…" Hermione mumbled unsure of what excuse she could use to explain where exactly has she been. She was not about to tell them that she spent the afternoon with Draco Malfoy, Slytherin Extraordinaire.

"Well…? We spent the whole afternoon looking for you! We were worried Malfoy did something to you!" Ron gushed, the tip of his ears pink, before he stuffed his mouth with food in order to calm himself down.

"She was with me…" A cool voice called from behind Harry, who was sitting opposite Ron and Hermione, made most of the Gryffindors in hearing range look up in surprise.

"You were with Malfoy?" Ron narrowed his eyes suspiciously whilst he looked at the two Head students alternatively. Draco frowned with disgust at Ron's lack of table manners and turned his nose up slightly.

"Yes Weasley, she was with me. I asked her to help me out with tutoring a couple of first years."

"Mione is this true?" Harry asked as he looked at Malfoy for a moment and turned his head to Hermione for her side of the story. Somehow, in the back of Harry's mind, he doubted this story.

"Yes, I was helping Malfoy out all afternoon." Hermione answered meekly as her eyes locked in gaze with Draco's. When no one noticed, Draco cheekily winked at her which made her blush and look away.

"Why?" Ron blurted out.

"Head students business that's why, Weasley. Now if you'll excuse me I'm going to have my supper before it gets cold and before I end up with Weasley's food on my shirt. Come on, Casanova." Draco scoffed at the fact that bits of Ron's food flew everywhere and even landed on his shirt.

"What is a Casanova? It sounds like a pudding?" Blaise frowned at the new word Draco just said which made Hermione laugh because Blaise pulled the exact same face as Draco did when he first heard it.

"No, that's a Cassava you're thinking of a native plant from South America, Zabini. I'll tell you later on - something funny Granger?" Draco smirked without malice.

"No, nothing is funny Malfoy." Hermione laughed and Draco merely nodded.

"How do you know so much about so much, Malfoy?" Blaise mumbled.

"Never mind, Zabini." Draco chuckled as he made his way to the Slytherin table without looking back at Hermione and the others.

* * *

It was Monday morning and it was usually the time of the day and week where most students are still half asleep yet rushing to finish off their homework. But that was not the case for Hermione, whilst Ron and Harry tried to finish writing their essay for History of Magic Hermione could enjoy her breakfast in a rather relaxed state.

She found herself sneaking glances at a certain blond Slytherin over the hunched shoulders of Harry and Ron and she watched as Draco engaged in a conversation with Blaise. She noted the smug look on Blaise that indicated he was proud of something that just happened and Draco just shook his head before sweeping his hair away from his eyes. Hermione had a feeling that Blaise was on the good side of the Slytherin twins that he messed around with the weekend that just gone. Hermione was certain of this because he didn't come back to the Head Tower Saturday or Sunday night.

The owls swooped in and a regal looking eagle owl landed in front of Draco and stretched its leg out for Draco to untie a shrunken parcel attached to it. The whole Slytherin table stopped their chatting amongst themselves and watched as Draco waved his wand over the parcel. They seemed to know what was about to happen and Hermione could not tear her gaze away from the stony expression on Draco's face and Blaise's frown. The parcel turned into a thick looking document with the ministry's seal and at the sight of this, the whole or at least what was left of Slytherin population started muttering to themselves. The other houses did not seem to pick up the commotion that sent the House of Snakes whispering and after a remark from Theodore Nott sent Draco glaring at him before walking off.

Huh, what was that about?

Soon Hermione forgot all about the quiet commotion at the Slytherin table and packed up when everybody started to leave their respected tables and made their way to their first lesson of the day. Harry and Ron decided to stay behind until the very last minute but encouraged Hermione to go on without them since she was not willing to help them out with their homework.

They should have done it before, shouldn't they?

"Hey watch where you're going mudblood!" Theodore Nott exclaimed when Hermione accidentally bumped into him around a corner, sending the books in his arms flying everywhere.

"Sorry." Hermione huffed, it wasn't her fault that she bumped into him like that. She side stepped and started to walk away again when a rough grasp on her wrist stopped her.

"Not so fast, Granger." Theodore pulled her back harshly that nearly caused her to land on the floor if it wasn't for her regaining her footing at the last minute.

"What do you want?" Hermione said defensively and the others around them halted in their steps to watch what was about to unfold.

"You made me drop my books. Now pick them up." Theodore had not let go of his tight hold on Hermione's wrist.

"I'm not picking them up for you." Hermione stated defiantly as she pulled her wrist free from Nott's tight grip.

"Yes, you will mudblood!"

"No I will not. I am not like your common house elf you ca-"

"What seems to be the problem here?" The crowd parted and Draco walked towards them in a rather calm manner. But anyone looked into his eyes at that moment in time would have noticed that they were burning charcoal in anger.

"None of your business Malfoy." Theodore said menacingly. He ignored Draco and began to pull out his wand in the intention of using it against Hermione when Draco placed himself directly in front of Hermione as if to shield her from whatever Theodore Nott was about to throw at her.

"About to raise your wand at a witch half your size Nott? Didn't your father teach you never to hit a girl. Oh wait, I forgot your mother was killed by your own father's wand. My bad" Draco retorted which earned a collective gasp from the spectators and a growl from Theodore Nott

"How dare you speak about my family like that!" Theodore exclaimed as he pressed the tip of wand against Draco's throat. Draco gave out a nasty laugh but did not move a muscle. He did not seemed to be threaten by the fact that someone is pressing their wand against his throat. In fact, the glint in his eyes suggested that Draco was about to pull something out the bag to set the latter into deeper anger.

"You know the spell Nott, _use_ it." Draco replied menacingly. When Theodore did nothing, Draco smirked.

"That's what I thought, when it comes down to it you do not have the heart to carry it out."

"You're the coward Malfoy, you're the one who does not have the heart to carry out what is placed upon them. The Dark Lord trusted you and you cannot even kill an old man." Theodore hissed which made Draco's smirk even wider for he knew exactly what this is about.

"Ah, is that what this is about? I seemed to remember you begging your father to let you become a Death Eater because you wanted the Dark Mark because I had one." Draco rolled up his sleeves and flashed the Dark Mark openly. "It is not worth the pain one goes through when the Dark Lord literally craves it on your arm, Nott, nor is it worth the pain that comes after it."

"You are a disgrace Malfoy, to the pureblood society. No wonder your Father disowned you. You're even poorer than Weasley and that's saying something." A sneer graced Nott's face and what he said caused everyone to murmur amongst themselves.

"Yes, Nott I have been disowned by Lucius but do not think for a moment I haven't got a single galleon to my name because even if I do I still have a lot more than you. Didn't your father gamble away every single knut under the Nott's name?" Draco retorted

"And you're associating with mudbloods and alike, oh how you have fallen Draco Malfoy." Theodore replied and the muscle that twitched in Draco's jaw indicated that he was starting to get irritated.

"Oh yes, Malfoy, I know all about _that_. Wait until your father hears about this. And this is not over filthy little mudblood." With that Theodore turned on his heels and walked off.

"You okay, Granger? Don't worry about Nott, he's just a little bitter." Draco ignored the looks he received and turned around to face Hermione.

"You really have been disowned?" Was all Hermione could say.

"Yes, I received the documents this morning to officially inform me that my mother and my father's lawyers had successfully drawn up the papers that refuses to acknowledge me as the Malfoy heir." Draco said in a resigned tone as he ran his fingers through his hair. Hermione only responded by patting his arm sympathetically.

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A/N Read and Review! _**I'm in need of a BETA reader to help me out! Is anyone willing to by my beta reader for my other story 'Silver Eyes of Mine' and maybe even this story too! Just leave it on a review or PM me :) xx**_

P.S Rosie! How dare you make it look like as if I was reviewing my own work hahaha! And I didn't forget to log out, you simply failed to log me out. This is technically hacking :)


	6. Chapter Six

**DISCLAIMER - I OWE NOTHING, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. EVERYTHING BELONGS TO JK ROWLING AND HER CREATIVE IMAGINATION.**

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**Chapter Six**

"How is this possible?" Blaise inquired as he perched on Draco's bed and flicked through the documents. How were these papers finalised when Lucius was rotting in Azkaban with no visiting rights and Narcissa is in such a state of madness to go through with the disownment of Draco.

However, on the back of Blaise's mind he always knew that there was a chance of Draco being disowned and it was only a matter of time. He was sure of it since the moment Draco rejoined Harry Potter's cause by running towards the latter and giving him his wand which he got back from the confrontation in the Room of Requirement. Lucius was so angered by this that he sent curses upon curses at his son but Draco pulled out his mother's wand and blocked his father's attacks successfully.

"Father had drawn it up during the summer holiday of our sixth year. All he needed was mother's signature and it was set to go." Draco sighed deeply as he looked out the window and into the night. He could briefly hear Hermione's tinkling laugh followed by the others'.

"But Lucius is not allowed any visitors. How could Aunt Cissa agree to this!" Blaise exclaimed. After Lucius was captured and sentenced to Azkaban, Draco stayed with Blaise in Italy whilst Narcissa was left at the Manor to go, for the lack of a better word, slightly mad. Draco tried with all his might to persuade his mother to come to Italy with them and Lady Zabini would be most pleased if she did come but Narcissa refused and locked herself in her chambers. Draco at first decided to stay with Narcissa instead but after a week or so Narcissa still didn't come out her room and Draco flooed himself to Italy one morning.

Draco has spent the summer in Italy with Blaise to forget everything that just happened and help himself recover from the impacts of the war. Draco knew he was always welcome at the Zabini Villa for it became his second home ever since he could remember. The one he is most familiar with is the villa in Venice, a large house much like the Manor but unlike Draco's ancestral home, the Villa was bright and airy with light coloured walls and very high ceilings. This is where they spent most of their time, but once in a while they would move in the other villas owned by the Zabini in the big cities such as Milan, Florence, Rome and Draco's personal favourite Verona.

"My father is not in Azkaban." Draco stated with venom laced within his words.

"What? What do you mean he's not in Azkaban?" Blaise bolted up from the bed and looked at Draco with confusion. How is Lucius not in Azkaban, when Blaise himself saw that the Senior Malfoy was captured by the Aurors the moment the Great Battle ended.

"Lucius was not going to Azkaban for a second time. After Potter sent him the first time, Lucius vowed he would never return to that place ever again. He's out there somewhere, hiding, lurking in the shadows." Draco ran his fingers through his hair and looked out the window once more.

"How do you know this, Draco?" Blaise eyed him suspiciously and the blond only sighed.

"It was a week before we came back to Hogwarts, I finally complied with Mother's request and went to the Manor. Mother was still not herself, she's ill but she does not want to seek help. She was muttering about Lucius is back, how I chose the wrong side and I still have time to see their side. I told her she was being difficult and I was about to leave, when she put me on a full body bind curse and locked me in my chambers for three days. She called it a chance for me to look back on my actions and a way for me to turn to my old self. I finally managed to convince one of the house-elves to take me to the cellar where I can successfully disapparate. But instead I found Lucius lurking down in the cellar. He told me I was wrong for choosing Potter's side and I am no son of his. I told him I shall humour him and let him get a head start. For the next I see him the last thing he will ever see is a Dementor coming towards him." Draco answered as he recalled the nights he spent at the Manor locked in his own chambers with the occasional house elf checking up on him.

A couple of days after he arrived in Italy, Narcissa began sending owls to try and persuade Draco to come back. As much as Draco loved Narcissa, he couldn't bring himself to go back to England. He needed to clear his head and try to forget everything that just happened. The letters began as soft pleading but when Draco kept sending back the owls with a short letter saying no, the letters began to be forceful and slightly disorientated that they often made no sense. At the end of it Draco complied to his mother's request and returned to the Manor where a heated argument broke out and carried on into the night. Narcissa was nothing like her regal self, her once beautiful flowing hair was a mess, her posture slumped and from what Draco gathered she stayed in her silk dressing gown all day for the whole summer. His father had broken his beautiful mother. Narcissa had gone mad and it was too pitiful for Draco to stand.

Narcissa and Draco argued well into the night, everything within arms length was broken and Narcissa sobbed but Draco would not repent his actions. He knew that Narcissa needed help and was about to the family healer when Narcissa cast a _Petrificus Totalus_ paralysing Draco, leaving him unable to do anything but breathe and look around. Narcissa continued to mutter under her breath the things Draco could make right and for the three days that Draco was locked in his chambers he could hear his mother just outside his door pacing and muttering. On the third day Narcissa removed the spell upon him and begged to set things right. Draco refused full out.

After persuading the house-elf that occasionally checked up on him and drop a nourishing potion in his mouth, the house-elf managed to sneak him into the cellar where Draco could successfully disapparate. There he found Lucius, as mad as Narcissa. Draco and Lucius once again argued to a point where spells and curses began flying around. Draco told Lucius to run, as fast as he can, for when Draco catches up with him, it'll be the end of Lucius.

"What are you going to do about this Draco?"

"I haven't figured it out yet."

"Do you even know where he is?"

"Who knows."

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"I still can't believe that Malfoy is disowned." Harry commented as they made their way to the potions dungeons. The news about Draco's predicament spread throughout the castle like wildfire causing the students to make up their own conclusion as to why the great Draco Malfoy is no longer one of the richest heirs in the Wizarding community. Even the Daily Prophet seemed to have gotten wind of the story!

"Serves him right." Ron huffed and Hermione punched him on the shoulder as soon as the words left his lips.

"That hurts 'Mione!"

"Serves _you_ right." Hermione glared at Ron. The night before, she could hear Draco and Blaise discussing something next door, but it was too muffled for Hermione to make any sense of it.

The last she spoke to Draco was yesterday morning when he stopped Theodore Nott from hexing her to oblivion. When Harry, Ron and Ginny heard about the confrontation between Hermione and Theodore, the three of them and the rest of the Gryffindor house were prepared to do something about it. How dare Nott threaten one of their own? The Gryffindor house is a proud house that always looks out for each other. If one house has beef with one of the Gryffindors then they have the whole Gryffindor to answer to. Especially when one threatens Hermione Granger, Gryffindor's Princess. The Gryffindor house could not help but be protective over their Hermione Granger, ever since the first day. Sure she is one feisty girl but Hermione is one of them and no one threatens her and gets away with it!

The golden trio made their way to Potions even though it was still rather early. Hermione persuaded the two boys to make their way to Potions before everyone else moves because she couldn't stand the way everyone whispered about Draco. Why can't everyone just leave things alone.

"-kidding, right?" They heard Blaise Zabini exclaimed followed by a chuckle from Draco and a shrilled laughter that the Trio concluded as Pansy.

"Make jokes like that about my mother, Zabini, and I will make mine." Draco said coolly, sending Pansy into hysterical laughter.

"Well it's not funny, Malfoy."

"Lady Zabini did come out in this very nice robe, silk I believ-"

"Draco Malfoy!"

When the Golden trio entered the Potions classroom, they found Pansy sat on the chair with her head down to muffle her laughter and Draco and Blaise were perched on the desk either side of her. Blaise was shaking his head in disbelief and Draco merely smirked amused with his hands gripping the table and his legs crossed at the ankles. The three Slytherins quietened down and stared as the Golden trio entered.

"Morning." Hermione muttered to try and diffuse the tension that was starting to build in the room.

"Granger." Draco nodded his head at Hermione but ignored the two boys behind her

"Morning Granger, we're just discussing Zabini's idiocy." To Hermione, Harry and Ron's surprise Pansy answered still laughing.

"I'm not an idiot, it's you two! You two always take the most innocent thing and turn it into something dirty." Blaise retorted childishly.

"Lady Zabini didn't seem to mind." Draco said under his breath sending Pansy to shriek with laughter. Blaise just growled at Draco and turned his back on the other two Slytherins and faced the Gryffindors who just watched the scene in front of them with fascination.

"Ignore these two fools, they have a messed up sense of humor." Blaise jerked his head towards the his friends and started to approach Hermione.

"I'm Blaise Zabini by the way, I don't believe we've officially met." Blaise smiled charmingly and offered his hand at Hermione. Draco and Pansy came to an abrupt halt and watched as Hermione stared at Blaise's extended arm for a moment before smiling a bright smile and shook it full-heartedly.

"Hermione Granger." Hermione smiled but soon gasped when Blaise flipped her hand and brought it up to his lips and brushing it with a kiss. Hermione blushed a deep red and the corner of Blaise's eyes he saw Draco momentarily narrow his eyes at him.

"Lovely to meet you Hermione Granger." Blaise let go of her hand and turned towards Draco with a smirk. " You were right Malfoy Lei è bellissima." (She is very beautiful)

"Rinunciare, Zabini. È imbarazzante la sua" Draco raised one of his elegant brows and pretended like he didn't care, but to those who knew him well could tell that he was not pleased about this. (Back off, Zabini. You are embarrassing her.)

"Sì, Malfoy. Whatever you say." Blaise merely smirked

"Stop it you two, you both know that I hate it when you speak your Italian mumbo-jumbo!" Pansy huffed and crossed her arms across her chest. Draco and Blaise looked at each other before sharing a smirk. Draco and Blaise approached her and both placed an arm around her shoulders.

"Siamo molto spiacenti, Pansy -" (We are sorry Pansy -)

"Ma no vi amiamo davvero -" (But we love you really -)

"E promettiamo di non farlo di nuovo!" (And we promise to never do it again!)

Both boys planted a kiss on her cheeks at the same time and chuckled as Pansy shook her head disapprovingly before joining in with the laughter too.

"Well this is weird, seeing Malfoy being nice." Ron whispered to Harry who nodded approvingly.

"Honestly Ronald, he's a human too you know" Hermione whispered at her friends whilst still keeping her eyes on the two Slytherins who teased Pansy light-heartedly.

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A/N Read and Review! Sorry I haven't uploaded for a while, I just got a bit caught up with things. My appologies for this chapter being rather short too :) Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year everyone!


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